City Research Online

Energy embodied in household cookery: the missing part of a sustainable food system? Part 1: A method to survey and calculate representative recipes

Reynolds, C. J. ORCID: 0000-0002-1073-7394 (2017). Energy embodied in household cookery: the missing part of a sustainable food system? Part 1: A method to survey and calculate representative recipes. Energy Procedia, 123, pp. 220-227. doi: 10.1016/j.egypro.2017.07.245

Abstract

This paper firstly reviews the current state of knowledge on sustainable cookery and the environmental impacts of the food consumption phase. It then uses the example of a dish of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding to explore energy use in food production and consumption. Part 1 of this paper conducts a meta-analysis of 33 roast beef and Yorkshire pudding recipes in order to create a representative recipe for analysis. Part 2 of this paper then uses life cycle assessment and energy use data is coupled with the representative recipe of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, to calculate the embodied energy of the meal. Seven interventions are modelled to illustrate how sustainable cookery can play a role as part of a sustainable food system. Interventions show that sustainable cookery has the potential to reduce cookery related energy use by 18%, and integrating sustainable cookery within a sustainable food system has the potential to reduce the total energy use by 55%. Finally, the paper discusses the issue of how the adoption of the sustainable cookery agenda may help or hinder attempts to shift consumers towards sustainable diets.

Publication Type: Article
Additional Information: Under a Creative Commons license
Publisher Keywords: Energy demand and resource use in food consumption; life cycle assessment; cooking; home-made meals; Environmental impacts; LCA; food; meal; food energy and water nexus; energy and resource use in food consumption
Subjects: Q Science > QC Physics
T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering
T Technology > TX Home economics
Departments: School of Health & Psychological Sciences
School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Healthcare Services Research & Management > Food Policy
SWORD Depositor:
[thumbnail of 1-s2.0-S1876610217328163-main.pdf]
Preview
Text - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.

Download (840kB) | Preview

Export

Add to AnyAdd to TwitterAdd to FacebookAdd to LinkedinAdd to PinterestAdd to Email

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics

Actions (login required)

Admin Login Admin Login